It is Vancouver’s first season in Major League Soccer, and you already have to wonder if the city is suffering from the same friendly fatigue we have seen developing in other North American cities.

Super-agency CAA Sports looks to have learned from last year’s lackadaisical summer season of international friendlies in Toronto. On Monday Major League Soccer announced that Juventus will face Sporting Lisbon at BMO Field on July 23. The match will be part of the Herbalife World Football Challenge, a series of friendlies held throughout North America which includes a July 18 match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Manchester City.

It was a fascinating exercise to go through a couple of hours worth of tweets after Arsenal’s stunning 2-1 win over Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie. The pundits are one thing, but when the tweets come from players or, in the case of Eskandarian, recently retired players, it’s amazing to see people who are (or recently were) paid to play the game become fans.